Countdown to opening as bridge lifts excitement

Elizabeth Quay

The first arch of the pedestrian and cyclist bridge at Elizabeth Quay is being lifted into place today, marking a major construction milestone for the project.

A crawler crane will slowly lift the 82 tonne steel arch on to the base plates, where it will be welded into place over six hours. The remaining arch will be painted and welded together onsite and lifted in the coming weeks.

Planning Minister John Day said the 480 tonne bridge would be a unique and distinctive architectural feature for Perth’s skyline and had been a real test for engineers constructing it.

“The Elizabeth Quay bridge will create a striking focal point for the precinct that will add to our already stunning skyline,” Mr Day said.

“The iconic double arch, single cable suspension bridge is the first of its kind in Perth and is high enough for Transperth ferries and most boats to pass underneath. At 110 metres, the bridge will connect The Landing to the children’s playground and Florence Hummerston Kiosk on The Island.”

This milestone comes as #TheBigDig to create the inlet ramps up with excavators removing 4,000 tonnes of soil and Guildford clay a day.

The Minister said that the bulk excavation was progressing extremely well with about 35 per cent already completed.

“Removing 150,000 cubic metres of soil - enough to fill more than 60 Olympic-size swimming pools - to reconnect the Swan River with the city is a mammoth effort,” he said. “About 40,000 cubic metres of natural Guildford clay will be transported to locally-based Austral to make bricks, a great outcome for the project.

“We are now at a very significant point in the quay’s construction and while this is happening very slowly, you can now visibly see the ground water rising up into the inlet as the excavators move around the site.”

Teams of workers are also getting on with the job of laying more than one million granite pavers by hand throughout the public areas, including The Landing and the promenades.